At the beginning of April, we were priviledged to be invited to attend the Whataburger Family Convention in Dallas, TX to accept our award for winning
second place in the Whataburger's Biggest Fan contest! All of our expenses were paid which made it a wonderful mini-vacation for us. This trip far exceeded any expectations that I had. The conference and all the activities were very over the top and it for sure was a once in a lifetime experience.
There were Whataburger banners everywhere! We stayed at the Gaylord Resort and it was amazing! It had a huge atrium in the center of the hotel that made you feel like you were really outside and there were several restaurants and shops along the indoor riverwalk. I couldn't stop staring at everything! You had all the benefits of being outside without any of the yucky parts (heat & humidity). It was beautiful.
The view from our balcony
Grant really loved the hotel room and was excited to explore everything. He was going nonstop like a crazy man, running everywhere!
Of course the first thing he did was go straight to check out the bathroom and stuck his hand in the toilet before we could catch him! haha.
Another funny story is that they provided a small crib, on wheels, for us to use. Grant apparently thought this was for him to play with, not to sleep in. He kept pushing it around the entire room. It was funny to see him walking around pushing an entire crib.
We received a gift bag upon arrival with lots of delicious treats! We enjoyed double chocolate chip cookies, cinammon rolls, jalepeno cheese biscuits, and brownies! We also got a few goodies like our Whataburger cups and our gift card prize.
When we went to dinner the first night, we couldn't believe how huge the event was! There were over 2000 people there, with a big decorated stage with a full array of lights, sound, and smoke on the stage that almost made you feel like you were at a concert or something. They played the videos that they made of each of the winners, including pictures of us from our video submission and also when the videographer came to interview us, and pictures of us from our photoshoot. It was so strange watching ourselves on the screen. It was a little embarrassing because when we were being interviewed, they said that they would focus on the one person who was talking, so James and I both were fidgeting and doing random stuff while the other was talking. Well apparently they had us both in the shot at the same time! Oh well.
The meals were super fancy. We had salad, chicken, veggies, lasagna, and the yummiest dessert I've ever had! Of course I had to cheat on my diet during this trip.
Grant liked the food, too. Of course he tried to grab and throw everything on the table, which included fancy plates and glasses, and a million pieces of silverware. It was a battle keeping everything away from him, lol, but luckily everyone just thought it was cute!
Grant really enjoyed all the festivities and interacting with all the people. He would stare at everyone nearby and try to talk to them and get their attention. He was being such a ham! Many people already knew who the "Whatababy" was and several people came up and talked to us. I have to say, it was weird feeling like everyone "knows" who you are and is staring at you. In the world of Whataburger, we were treated like celebrities. On the one hand, it was really fun, but on the other hand, it can be overwhelming.
They had a musical performance to kick off the event.
After dinner Gen. Colin Powell spoke! What a surprise! We really enjoyed that; it was a special treat! He spoke about focusing on your core strengths as an organization, about how every person and every function are important, and the importance of education. He had some really awesome stories to tell. It was an inspirational speech.
We had fun after that exploring the hotel and looking around. There was so much to do there and it was so beautiful! Here we found a water fountain that sprayed water at least 20 feet in the air.
When we got back to our room, we found another special treat. There was a duffel bag with a Whataburger blanket and some t-shirts left for us! I was so excited to even see my name on the t-shirt. :)
The next morning, we attended the Dobson family chat. The Dobsons (family owners of Whataburger) discussed the Whataburger family history and the legacy of their parents in founding and running the organization. There were some wonderful heartfelt stories and values that they shared with us. It made me love Whataburger even more!
We also had a personal meet and greet with them and got to talk to them individually. They each spoke with us and highlighted the points of our story that they liked the most, while also telling us a little about themselves and the company and how they appreciated us. They presented us with a Whataburger history book and all of the winners, including us, were in the book! So cool and pretty much fulfilled one of my dreams!
Next we were off to watch the WHATAGAMES! This is like the Whataburger Olympics. Months and months of competitions between Whataburger stores over policies, procedures,and history of WB came down to 15 teams in the final round. It was sooooo cool, like a real game show. James and I remembered a lot of the answers and thought it would have been fun to participate ourselves.
We didn't realize what an intense event it was, though. Everyone took it VERY seriously. Later we found out one of the reasons. Each member of the winning team won $5,000 EACH! Whataburger had many other prizes to award to employees, franchisees, and others as well (including 25K to the general manager of the year), which made me realize what a generous and successful company they really are.
This was the other part of the competition: the restaurant operations competition. Each team had half an hour in the store to take orders, make, and hand out $500 of custom orders (that is very busy, like Aggie game day busy!). They even had judges requesting orders in the drive through. It was amazing all the detail that went into the competition. Oh, and we got to eat the orders!!!
Grant was very social during the Whatagames and wanted to play with everyone. Here he is with Karl and Carol, the first place winners. They are from Rockport, TX and very nice. They eat at Whataburger every single day, sometimes 2-3 times per day! They now have a goal to eat at every single Whataburger in the Corpus Christi area (there are TONS!).
Grant playing with his buddy Micah. He was the 3rd place winner. Grant took a warm liking to him and always wanted to play with him. He is always very interested in kids and they can really get him to laugh a lot!
Taking home a souvineer!
We went swimming in the indoor pool. It took Grant a while to remember what swimming is all about. There were two pools, one indoor and one outdoor. We went with the indoor pool because we thought the outside water would probably be too cold. Inside was VERY nice! Grant seemed a little scared at first, but once he started getting used to it, he started kicking around and getting excited. Then he was shivering cold, lol. He was very cute!
Accepting our award at dinner. This was the one part of the trip where I got really nervous. They had a specific order and instructions for us backstage on what we were to do and when, etc. I kept worrying that I would trip or do something dumb in front of everyone, but of course everything went great. Grant did surprisingly well on stage! I have to say it was a very strange feeling standing in bright lights in front of 2,000 people who are all clapping for you. Very fun, though!
We then watched the rest of the Whatagames awards. The teams who competed were so happy and very proud of the good jobs that they had done.
Our happy family enjoyed the trip of a lifetime! Everyone loved Grant and he took pictures with lots of people who already knew who the "Whatababy" was. We were also so happy that he was VERY well behaved and mostly enjoyed every minute of the trip! He didn't cry on the flights and was a happy and laid back baby during the activities. However, Grant was passed out by the time the awards were over! There were several after parties, including a performance by the Spazmatics, but we took sleepy Grant back to the hotel room, lol.
The last morning was the farewell breakfast. By far the best Breakfast buffet I have EVER had! Sooooo goooooood. We wished we could have stayed longer, but it was time to go home. Before we left, we got to spend a $150 gift card that they gave us to use at the hotel. Since we didn't get to go to the spa or anything like that, we hit the many gift shops that they had there. We bought a baby outfit and some baby cowboy boots that were ADORABLE! I also got a few random souvineers and other things for us. We also got to hang out with our college friends, Heather & Jake, who lived near the area, and catch up a little bit. It's so crazy to realize all that has happened and all that has changed since our college days.
We had a blast on our trip and will never forget it!!! Now we get to enjoy our Whataburger yummyness!
